Doug,

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>Good grief Jerry... You know as well as anyone else that the marketplace is amoral.
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My dictionary defines "amoral" as follows:
"unconcerned with, or outside, morals; non-moral".

The marketplace may well be 'designed' as an "amoral" entity but society expects businesses, and businesses expect businesses, to operate within a framework of morality. Morality in practises and morality in decisions.

Trust remains the basis of much of business even today and trust is not "amoral".

Sure we have laws, but more often than not even a law assumes a standard of morality. If they did not then they would read even more troublesomely than they do now (and your beloved lawyers would have even a tighter grip on things)!

You've talked some on UT about the degenerating state of society. My contention is that it is the marketplace that is leading the way in this degeneration, especially since the demise of communism as a competing force.

Your apparent yardstick for the success (read 'morality') of MS is that it has almost $50. BILLIONS in the bank. I don't believe that showing great profit has any link at all morality. Some might argue that showing massive profit is alone a strong indication of immorality.

Capitalism without "morality" is, to me, just as bad as communism and possibly worse.

cheers